prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .017

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You awaken amidst the darkness with only a faint light to greet you. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. After an hour or two of wandering through the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. Because of the strange phenomena during the past months when scientists observed the sudden appearance of rainbow crystals in the sky, the government has been feverishly combing through the moon for more Moonblessed to be rescued. You’ll eventually be brought into Iris’s moon government center.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They tell you about their world and about the first appearance of the Moonblessed as the medical staff give you an examination to make sure you’re not carrying any viruses or biological hazards. If you react violently, you may be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. Once the examinations are over, you’re informed that you will be provided accommodations on their planet during your stay. You will then be escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the Iris moon and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals.

The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ Welcome to the Jungle
07/08 - 07/15 | Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Planet Prismatica, City of Lunatia | top

Welcome to Prismatica’s hub, Lunatia, the city of your dreams! A bustling metropolis lush with bright lights, vibrant colors, luxuriant plant life, and all the conveniences of technology absent from your own world… It seems like paradise to all the uninitiated. After a quick tour of the city, new arrivals can find themselves getting cozy in their new homes.

A Settle in your new home at Level 2 to find new roommates and say hello to your neighbors! City officials will give you directions to the designated districts across Level 2 and instruct you to pick out a unit. Each apartment complex has a different aesthetic, some may look cozy, some stylish, and some bizarre. The free accommodations have a basic living space that can only fit two or three people at most in one unit.

Starter Chromaspace furnishings are provided which can be controlled with the touch of a built-in panel. Examples are color-changing curtains, transforming sofa beds, cabinets turning into tables, etc. Customizing your apartment or moving out will have to wait until you earn more chroma. Until then, why don’t you check out your new neighborhood or explore the city levels? Maybe your new roommates or neighbors can give you a “hand” with allowance for dinner.

▶ You’re as Cold as Ice
07/08 - 07/15 | Level 2, Crystal Beach | top

Summer strikes Lunatia with record high temperatures as the city is wracked by an unnatural heatwave. Residents will feel the burn the moment they head outdoors, kissing their skin pink as it drenches them in sweat. For a hot and sticky day like this, it's the perfect time to head to Crystal Beach for a refreshing dip in the water. All sorts of new stands have popped up by the shore, selling icy treats and frozen cocktails.

The morning news recommends befriending those blessed by Cordis, who can keep people cool with their magic touch. They also warn of overheating machinery and electronics! Establishments and residences may end up dealing with broken air-modulating units if they use them too much.

Having cleared their names, Suzaku and Kaya of former *BTSB fame have decided to reform as a rock band duo called The Nine Tails after leaving their boyband roots. They will be performing their most chill new summer jam, “Fox Girl Summer,” while incorporating Cordis magic of their own to keep the listeners feeling cool and refreshed.

B Those listening to Kaya and Suzaku’s summer anthem might find their beats too chill to relax and party to. And by that, we mean literally. Ice may start to form around the limbs of happy local beachgoers, filling them with unfortunate shivers that will send them running into the arms of another Prismal to thaw. Even more troubling is that some portions of the oceanfront may also start to freeze, trapping some unsuspecting swimmers inside and leaving them in need of rescue. If anyone goes unnoticed, a Prismal lifeguard will be quick to rescue them.

In a panic, Kaya winks at Suzaku, who reassures his worried partner and ends their performance by summoning a mighty phoenix above the stage. Of course, it is only an illusion for the audience as Kaya thaws the partygoers and the ocean with his magic. Suzaku might have gotten carried away with their debut...

▶ Boom, Badoom, Boom, You Got that Super Bass
07/08 - 07/15 | top

The heated beach waters have brought a large onslaught of aggressive super bass close to the shore. Needless to say, the boys with the booming system were not ready for the sudden and alarming increase in population of this particular fish. In response, the beach committee is hosting a fishing competition to see who can catch the largest super bass. They will be providing extremely durable fishing gear and sufficient bait to all worthy competitors, so come to the Crystal Pier with your best fishing know-how and try and break a record or two!

Due to the competition, job openings for lifeguards have become available. Their main task is to keep an eye on participants and the audience. They should be ready to pull them out in case they have trouble swimming back to the pier. Lifeguards will be provided official beach committee high-tech swimsuits (in the form of tankinis and speedos of your choice) that enhance their performance by allowing them to swim faster and breathe more easily underwater. In the dark ocean depths, they glow with patterns easily recognizable to the Prismal eye. They also accentuate the Moonblesseds’ assets very nicely.

C Although they are no different from sea bass in appearance, super bass are known for their monstrous strength and penchant for mischief. They like to fly in the air and slap whoever tries to catch them and their fellow fish with their tail fins. You think you like them better when they dolo? Think again. These fish will purposely grab a hold of something eye-catching such as rainbow-colored sea pearl or other treasures from the ocean and pull the unsuspecting fishers into the watery depths.

▶ Put on Your Red Shoes and Dance the Blues
07/08 - 07/23 | City of Amegahara | top

The city of Amegahara is in preparation for the annual Vulpus Astra Celebration which is coming up in a few weeks. This year is special as the foxes of Amegahara have never celebrated this occasion with the dragons of Lyestellus, making it the first time all three cities in the alliance will be celebrating together. This is all thanks to the Moonblessed, who not only healed their lands but also brought the Prismals closer.

And so for this special year, the upcoming event promises to be an even larger and more extravagant affair. In order to address the extremely high demand for traditional dress and other materials needed for the celebration, many job openings become available in Amegahara. Among these are tailors, glassblowers, florists, and dancers.

D The tailors will be sewing traditional clothes, such as lovely-patterned yukata, kimono, haori, and obi. Glassblowers will create pearl glass plates, cups, and trinkets such as hair accessories and festive souvenirs. Florists will be heading to work at Inari Highway’s greenhouses, caring for flowers and putting together flower crowns, colorful bouquets, and floral arrangements to use for street and interior decorations. It is encouraged to make use of pearl glass vases!

Lastly, dancers will be auditioning for a group of strict Amegaharan foxes who will not shy away from hurling insults if you underperform. The traditional Amegaharan dance features many layers of intricate fan work that is difficult to master, or dancers can choose to take part in the more uproarious Amegaharan drum dance. Be prepared for long and grueling rehearsals after passing auditions, where you will be forced to partner up with one another to bend each other’s bodies as flexibly as it could then dance until every single person in the room has the movements and timings memorized perfectly. Moonlacing will keep one another from collapsing in exhaustion, but your bruised ego may require more tender care.

▶ Questions

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

[ Rune convinces himself this is one thing and one thing only: a transdimensional spell.

Maybe the caster hadn't meant to be this fanatical, but it's jarring waking up in crystal he's never seen before. He keeps a shard of it, and by the time he's brought into the city, there are more questions than answers. He's not quiet about it, though immediately hesitant to trust anyone who looks much too official. Then, it's a kidnapping, and he has every right to free himself. But the freedom allowed to explore the city and the address he's given for a place to live is somewhat unusual for that, staring at the crystal he curls his fingers around before shoving it into his pocket and turning away. And minutes later, Rune finds himself in a slightly more populated area, dim and full of lights and easy to recognize as some sort of pleasure district. (Every city has them, so it's nothing particularly new.)

He loiters along the main walkway, watching and trying to determine who to speak to first. Could he conjure a truth spell this quickly without drawing any attention to himself? If anyone could do it, it'd be him, but... There's a frown as he reaches out to grab the closest person walking by, grip pulling at the upper arm or wrist. ]

How long have you been a prisoner here?

[ If their numbers were high, then it couldn't be a coincidence. ]

YOU'RE AS COLD AS ICE

[ It's not the music that draws him. It's the magic.

Rune can't seem to understand how or where this place is generating so much without tapping the source so quickly, and so, he stands beneath a beach umbrella watching beachgoers and torn between leaving and waiting even longer for something to happen. In the end, it's the phoenix that has him staring, feeling the uncomfortable pull of magic as it burns beneath his skin in reaction. He squeezes his hands into fists and then touches the piercing in his ear, conscious of the way the charm wavers with the heat that begins to thaw those that had been caught in the ice. It spurs him to move forward towards the crowd, searching through them and deciding then that it wouldn't matter if he was caught. There's so much magic everywhere that anyone could be targeted. ]

You look cold. [ Spoken to the first person he sees. In that same thought, it might, instead, come out as 'you look warm'. ] Give me your hand.

[ A simple conjugation should help them feel better. ]

NETWORK ( un: rune )

I have two questions.

Has anyone been successful leaving this place?
They can't keep all of us here against our will.

And if anyone has experience with the occult, I'd like to meet with you.
That's less a question and more a request.

[ He thinks about it for a moment and decides to add: ]

If anyone knows the whereabouts of someone named Ciro, tell me ASAP.

WILDCARD

[ some info on his journal for a better look at his history. on the fence between cordis and sanguis! if there's anything else you'd like to do, just pm me and i'll be happy to work it out + write something. ]

i've only just arrived. who's ciro? i'll help you look.

[ What a strange username. ]

He's a friend.
If he's here, I know he's already found trouble.

What's your name?

i'm katarina claes. it's a pleasure to meet you.

i think i must have gotten swallowed by a book again. don't worry, my friends will get us out soon.

[ If he wasn't so used to seeing or hearing strange things, he might find that comment particularly odd. ]

Do you get swallowed by books that often?
It doesn't feel like that's the problem.

it only happened once. but the library was huge so the odds of it happening again are pretty high!

...what kind of experience? And what realm of the occult? You're going to have to be more specific.

[She's very much on guard. She's had bad experiences with strangers messing with the occult recently.]

I would take any experience, though I'd rather not deal with a novice.
The same goes for branches of the occult.
How proficient are you with magic?

[ That's assuming that 1) she knows magic and 2) she isn't someone who's going to report him for misconduct. ]

Well, good news. You aren't dealing with a novice.

What do you seek to gain with this knowledge?

A way out of this place.

[ This seems questionable though. ]

How do I know you're not a novice?

[doubt.jpg]

Good luck with that. I know a few occult languages, so I've been combing through the library, and I don't think there's anything written in any of them. Not just spells, but anything, much less something that would help you get out of here.

It's not only about the language.
There are a few things I could try, but I don't have the power on my own.

[ He struggles to admit that and hopes this isn't some sort of trick. ]

You have created your own spells, haven't you?

I have. But at least where I'm from, you can't just...pull it out of thin air. You need a structure to it. Something tangible, like runes or spoken word. Words that mean something when you put them together. You can do that without some kind of dictionary, but it would be extremely difficult to piece it together and have it actually effect things the way you want it to. Language is a tricky thing.

For all I know, things work differently here. But that's just it. I don't know if or how yet, let alone how Chroma would factor into your little escape plan.

I'm sure you've noticed by now, but people here aren't from the same place.
It doesn't quite work the same for me, though words do make it easier.
If you haven't tried, then that's really all I need to know.

I'll do it as many times as I have to until I get the results that I want.

[ Though he really only prefers once and done since he's such a perfectionist when it comes to casting. Maybe that's why witches always had covens, people to rely on, but Rune doesn't have that luxury in a place like this. He never had it back home either, so there's not much to lose either way. ]

[Ciro is far too easily trusting, so he's already settled into an apartment and reading up on the magic of this place when he's alerted to a new network post. He's not really the sort for social media of any kind (he prefers actually being social), but he sees the message left and his name mentioned toward the end.

Rune was here? How was that possible.

The last thing he remembers is that they were together, talking, watching shitty TV programming one night, and then he was here. Of course Rune was brought with him. He feels guilty for not sensing him sooner. He'd largely shut down that part of his ability because he kept getting overwhelmed by everything going on.

But now that he knows his friend is around all it takes is a tracking spell to find his closest known position and follow the mild glow of his footprints. By the time he gets to where Rune is it's the afternoon, and Ciro doesn't care so much about the time as he knocks at the door, shifting his weight from leg to leg awkwardly. He's not sure what he's going to say to Rune, but his heart is racing, hoping this all wasn't some mistake and that his less than stellar magic didn't lead him to a perfect stranger.

This is why he needs Rune around. Ciro's magical aptitudes lay elsewhere.]

[ It's what makes them different and reliable—Ciro trusts too easily, Rune trusts very little or not at all. And maybe that's also why he's living alone and filling up the kitchen with bits and pieces of things he's collected so far. He's in the middle of depositing his latest find into a bowl when he hears a knock, and Rune frowns at the intrusion. He doesn't know anyone here, and he's kept to himself for the most part.

...should he have been paranoid enough to put up a few wards?

He sighs and shakes his head, leaving his collection of ingredients to their own devices so he can answer the door. At first, when he opens it, there's a deeper frown working across his features, but it fades just as quickly when he recognizes Ciro's aura and then looks at his face. If this was a dream, he was going to be very annoyed by it. Yet, in the meantime, he steps forward to touch his forearm, fingers slipping to circle his wrist so he can drag him inside. Then, he's pinning him against the shut door with a ferocity not quite unlike him, forearm braced against his chest so he can get a proper look. It looks like Ciro and feels like Ciro, but he can't be too sure in a place like this. One that breathes all sorts of strange magic. ]

If this is a joke, I'll kill you where you stand.

[ Which means Ciro has less than a minute to convince Rune that he's him. ]

Haha. You're an idiot.

[Yes. That's his response to being yanked in and shoved up against a door. If Rune isn't careful this could take a sharp turn, but Ciro isn't really in the mood for that. He's too glad to have found his friend, hence the gross cheesy grin on his face.]

I missed you too.

[If Rune is expecting some form of logical argument to confirm Ciro is who he says he is he'll have to keep waiting because he uses what little range of motion he has to put his arms around Rune to draw him in closer, resting his face on his shoulder.]

You didn't even ward the place, you idiot. [And even as he chastises him, his hand slides up the back of Rune's neck to touch his hair. This kind of intimate yet supposedly platonic physical affection is definitely characteristic of Ciro, so it might be enough to convince his friend that everything was fine. If not he's going to make very inappropriate comments about being pinned down by Rune again.]

[ ...well. At least Rune doesn't immediately jump to wanting to kill him.

That kind of magic takes a toll on him anyway, after a while, and he certainly shouldn't be murdering every stranger who finds their way to his door. But Ciro's voice and the way he touches him is explicitly Ciro, leaning back just enough so that his face isn't smashed uncomfortably against Ciro and part of the door. He'd be fooling himself if he didn't notice how much tension had bled from him the moment Ciro had embraced him, and in a moment of weakness, Rune drops his arm and curls it around him to return the gesture. ]

If I had, you wouldn't have made it to the front door. [ A weak excuse but still a decent one. ] How long have you been here?

[ Rune is expecting some sort of variance in their time there—give or take a couple of days. But it's always difficult to tell when he can't find the ability to concentrate since the fluctuation of magic is so vast and unreliable. That's the one compliant he has about this place and almost prefers the dangers of home to the overwhelming nature of this one. But he'll think more on that later, drawing back and idly brushing his knuckles against Ciro's jaw in a surprisingly gentle way. ]

And if you call me idiot one more time, I really will kill you.

[ Maybe, possibly. ]

[Give him an inch and he will take a mile.

Ciro throws both arms around Rune, practically jumping onto him with a very obvious lack of intention to let go. Just in case. He lazily drapes himself over Rune like a second skin, shaking his head.]

Yes, well, you dropped my name for all to see. Someone would have found me and alerted you eventually. Just a few days. I spent most of it on that moon I woke up on trying to collect samples of all the different plants I couldn't recognize. They had to pull me away and put me on this space bus looking thing. But I wouldn't have known you were here if you didn't do that...so..thank you. I retract the label of idiot.

[Where Rune is reasonably apprehensive of the magic here, Ciro is very willing to jump into it headfirst and find out whatever he can about the properties in everything. He's been like a child in a candy store. When knuckles move lightly against his face he looks up from the ridiculous hug that's lasting far longer than it ought to.]

Why does it smell like.. [Ciro peeks over Rune's shoulder to see what he's been working on.]

[ Just this once, he allows the contact. In truth, it feels good to have some sort of familiarity, and he sighs at the way he prattles on. ]

I don't want to hear you crying if you lose something important from being careless. [ He remembers all those ridiculous experiments back home. ] Your faith in me is severely lacking. I will always find you.

[ It's a strangely romantic thing to say, and given how close they are, it could easily be more if he pressed. But they haven't talked about that, and there's no time for it anyhow, turning his head to glance in the direction of the kitchen when Ciro comments on the smell. There's the slightest shrug in response. ]

I've been sampling the sage here. It's not exactly the same as what we're used to. [ A pause. ] I found one that glows. Do you want to see it?

I never cry. Not since I lost the ability when I burned my tear ducts shut experimenting with Spanish Moss and Mugwort.

[The smile gives away that he's joking, but it falters a little when Rune goes and says that. It's not that he doesn't love how it sounds, or the way it makes him feel special to him, but he doesn't know if letting himself feel that way is okay. They had a friendship and a business to look after--well, now only just the former.

His expression brightens at the mention of glowing sage. One didn't have to be a witch to know that anything that glowed was either radioactive or filled to the brim with magic.]

Show me. Show me now. [That's all it took for him to release Rune from his nearly never-ending hold.]

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To my knowledge, quite a few people have successfully left this place. The real question is whether they've done so intentionally. And if the answer is yes, one wonders why they never leave a note.

[ He's not bitter. ]

As to your second point, that depends entirely upon your definition of "occult", and whether it encompasses, say, demons.

[ Already frowning at that username. ]

So what you're saying is they disappear.
That's not the same thing as leaving.

Demons I'm not that invested in, but it's something.
What about magic?

[ what's wrong with his amazing username tbh ]

Well, I suppose they must have disappeared to somewhere, mustn't they? It doesn't seem quite in the spirit of this place to vanish them into thin air, and I do recall seeing a post or two from a returnee on this very network. To hear tell, they generally found themselves returned to their own worlds with no memory of their time here, but whether that is the exception or the rule, I'm afraid I can't elucidate.

Magic - now, that I know a bit about. I have in fact been taking lessons in the art for the past few months. With the caveat that it appears to be rather a different breed of magic than that of my own world (involving far fewer dead fish, for one thing), perhaps I can answer your questions nevertheless.

But the possibility of going somewhere is just that.
I'll figure out the details. That's really all I wanted to know.
Memories aren't exactly the most important thing right now.

[ because, you know, he could just make a spell for that. ]

If you've been practicing here, openly, then it's not illegal?
Things are different where I'm from too – like you said.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .017

rune / original - ota

un: fortunelover

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un: sypha

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wildcard, post network...post

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network; un: filthyrich1

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